Capstone Project Topic and Proposal Submission Guidance

Title Exploring the Effects of Cyberbullying on the Mentall Health of School Student.

The title describes the scope of the research. Choose a title that captures the essence of your proposed project $($you are ONLY ALLOWED to choose a title from the options emailed by your supervisor$).$

Background and Rationale

This section will be used to create the readers$$ interest. It can include a specific description of the topic that is to be investigated. A brief preview of the topic and the foundation of the problem should also be given. The researcher can achieve this through building up a detailed background of circumstances that lead to the problem being examined. Therefore, the background helps the reader understand the specific problem addressed by the researcher.

Problem to be Investigated

The formulation of the research problem is among the first and most important aspect of the research process. Formulating the research problem requires considerable knowledge of the subject area and the identified research gap. It is like the identification of a destination before undertaking a journey. Without the destination of a journey, it is impossible and difficult to decide on the routes of the journey. Likewise, without a research problem, a clear direction and plan of the research study is impossible. If the research problem is well identified and formulated, undertaking a research study becomes more straightforward. Therefore, the research problem can be said to be the foundation upon which the research study is built. Simply put, a problem statement is about a gap in literature. For example, after reading ten articles about your topic from reputable journals, you may discover that previous studies have not used your specific target population as the participants. In this example, your research would be filling the gap of targeting participants that were limited in previous studies or not used as participants at all.

Aim of the Study

The aim of the study refers to the goal of your research. Your aim should be clear, unambiguous, concise and indicate what you intend to achieve with your research. This section starts with: The aim of this study is$...........$

Research Objectives

Research objectives are the purpose for which research is being conducted. They are the set goals that the researcher wishes to achieve. Hence, it is important that the research objectives are clearly outlined in a manner that will be easy to comprehend. In some cases, it is good practice to form the research objectives after the research questions have been formulated. This is because the research objectives are mostly used to explain the manner in which the research questions are going to be answered. Research objectives should be preceded by infinitive verbs such as:

$$ To determine

$$ To identify

$$ To describe

$$ To establish

$$ To develop

Formulated research objectives must be achievable within the available time and with the available resources. They must be designed in such a way that the findings will be adding new information and knowledge to the current literature and also be able to advance knowledge in the field of study. Some of the main features of the research objectives are:

$$ Clarity

The manner in which the research objectives are worded and presented expresses a lot about the research. Hence, the wording and presentation of the research objectives should be very clear and well defined.

$$ Completeness

The phrases used in the research objectives should portray a sense of completeness. This feature of the research objective also makes it easy and possible to decide on the extent of the research and the scope of the research questions.

$$ Specific

The research objectives should be specific enough to provide some indication of the what, where, how or when associated with the research being conducted.

Research Questions

The research questions must be formulated in line with the objectives. The answers to the research questions ensure that your objectives have been achieved. When the research questions are appropriately formulated, they guide the researcher in the construction of a logical argument and they provide direction for the research project. They also help the researcher in working towards achieving the objectives of the study. The research questions should be clear, focused, complete and concise, and they should be developed to focus around the key areas of the study being conducted. For example, research objectives may be written as follows:

The objectives of this research are:

$$ To identify the most common social media platforms used by businesses.

$$ To determine the extent to which social media affect businesses.

$$ To identify which aspects of social media affect businesses.

Thereafter, the corresponding research questions may be written as follows:

The following research questions are derived from the research objectives:

$$ Which are the most common social media pl